Let’s get Devo done – it’s time to talk mayors | Miranda Barker
Can Lancashire unite around the need for a mayoral combined authority in order to earn devolution investment from Keir? That seems the only course open to us.
The English regions devolution bill quoted in the King’s speech talks of weighting positive investment to those areas that go for mayoral combined authorities and while we know Keir Starmer and crew are pro devolution and keen to point out they are not insisting on any particular model, the mood music is deafening.
It sounds like it’s going to be a question of mayor or bust and that there are so many areas now moving in the direction the government prefers, that if Lancashire doesn’t step up and make progress under its own steam, no one is going to be crying in their proverbial pint in government.
In short, we have to want this, unite around it and ask for it loud and clear or no one is going to give it to us, and that is where business must come in.
We have always heard from our firms in Burnley and East Lancashire that business is pro devolution. But when asked the “mayoral question” directly there are always more questions than answers about how and what a mayor would mean for us.
There’s no doubt when it’s discussed that companies are sure government needs a single voice, face, message to focus on and talk to. It just seems to be the mayor concept itself that raises more questions than answers.
And then there is the problem of local authorities – getting agreement there seems certain to be even harder. But if Keir is hell-bent on mayors and the discussions with the nation’s MPs sound like that is the direction of travel, and other areas like Cheshire and Cumbria seem in danger of eating our investment lunch, shouldn’t we at least talk about it?